Four sophomores took advantage of the snowy weekend by building a seven-foot tall snowman outside of Old Main Saturday night.

Resa Fuller, a music performance major, Lucy Hill, a music performance major, Jessica Stewart, an English education major, and Lucas Lower, a computer science major, were driving around Charleston Saturday looking at the snow-people around town.

That was when they got the idea to build their own snowman in front of Old Main.

“We drove by Old Main and someone said, ‘I can’t believe nobody’s built any snowmen in front of Old Main,’” Lower said. “Then we all just looked at each other and silently agreed that we had to do it.”

When it came to building the snowman, they said there were some struggles, especially with the torso.

“We made (the torso) too big, and then we had to build a snow ramp to get it up on the flower bed so we could roll it onto the first ball, because it was too heavy to lift,” Fuller.

Stewart said it took over a half hour to get the torso to its spot, but she said it was her favorite part of the evening.

“When we finally (got the ball up), we all started cheering and high-fiving. It was so cool,” Stewart said.

Unfortunately, the snowman was knocked down at some point in the evening on Saturday.

“I know that Jessica, Lucy and Resa were heartbroken,” Lower said. “It was our baby. I figured from the beginning that it wouldn’t make it all night, either from melting or from a mischievous passerby.”

Stewart said they were able to make light out of the situation even though they were all upset over their work being taken down.

“I was so disappointed. I was hoping it would at least stay up for a full day. We all made jokes about it online, though,” Stewart said. “I put on my Snapchat (story) ‘our child was murdered; $25 to anyone with information,’ and Resa made a big Instagram story as a memorial.”

However, the group said it was fun to see the reactions from people, such as people honking as they passed Old Main, and Fuller said she thought the honking showcased the type of community Charleston is.

“People kept driving past and honking at us while we were working,” Fuller said. “It was kind of fun to see the community liked the idea.”

The group said they might make another snowman in their yard in the future and potentially start a tradition.

“I know that we want to make it a tradition to make a snowman in front of Old Main on the first big snow every year,” Lower said. “Maybe we can get a big group together and make a bunch.”

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at cebrock@eiu.edu.